Besides amonia-nitrate, pH & temperature are the two most important parameters that should be tested regularly Testing pH in an Aquaponic System An aquaponic systems needs to find a compromise between optimal pH requirements of the fish plants and bacteria because all are somewhat different. The optimal pH for fish, plants and bacteria are: fish- 6.5 – 8.0, plants- 4.5 – 7.0, bacteria- 6.0 – 8.0. Therefore, the best pH to aim for in your aquaponic system is between 6.7 to 7.0 pH. This compromise is good for the fish. It makes sure the ammonia is low and ammonium high. Refer to the diagram below. This compromise in pH is also good for the for the plants. It’s in a range that their needed nutrients are mostly available. Lastly, it is good for the bacteria. You can test the pH with an inexpensive pH test kit from an aquarium store. The brand I find most accurate and convenient is the API Freshwater Kits, using liquid drops in the test tube they provide. There are more sophisticated pH meters. If your in it for “keeps”, you should make the investment. Hanna is a well known brand. A Hanna Como pH-ppm meter is standard equipment for me. They have Nitrate-Amonia meters as well. Testing Temperature in an Aquaponic System Plants have a wide range of temperature tolerance. But it is best to monitor temperature ranges for the health of your fish as well as your beneficial microorganisms in your growing media. Different fish will have different optimal temperature ranges. For example Talapia aurenus has a wide range it can survive in (8′ to 30’C), however 20 to 24’C is optimal. You need to be familiar with your particular fishes optimal range. Fish could have digestive problems at temperatures above or below their optimal range. But another very important factor concerning water temp is the pH. With water temperatures outside the optimal range, the bacteria which covert your ammonia into usable Nitrate will loose efficiency and slow in this nitrogen conversion. The fish may then be subject to dangerously high ammonia levels that are toxic to the fish. ...

The following article is based on Wilson Lennard PhD’s Aquaponic System Design Parameters Aquaponic fish to plant ratios, which is directly related to aquaponic feeding rate ratios, is the heart of a well performing unit. There are many approaches that attempt to define how many fish to place in your particular system and how much food to feed your system’s fish. Unfortunately many of these approaches are incorrect and have no real association with correct ratio determination methods for aquaponic systems. But there are two scientifically based approaches that will help get us on the right track. The UVI/Rakosy approach and the Aquaponic Solutions/Lennard approach. A third well based approach has also surfaced recently as well. Defining Aquaponic Design Ratios How do we size-up the two major components in a system, the fish and the plants? A common but partially unfounded method is to simply draw a relation between the amount of water or fish in the fish compartment and the amount of media in the growing beds. But if we were to look at what is actually occurs in an aquaponic system, we can get a better understanding of a more appropriate method. We are aware of the aquaponic principal that the fish are fed, the fish produce wastes and this waste is used by plants for their growth. The amount of waste produced is in direct proportion to the amount of fish food consumed by the fish. The amount of plants that can be grown is proportional to the amount of nutrients available which in turn depends on the amount of waste produced by the fish. This in turn is dependent on how much food is fed to the fish.This is an uncomplicated circle of proportions. So the only real predictable ratio is based on the amount of fish feed entering the system related to the number of plants we grow. SO in actuality the ratios should be determined not by water nor media quantities but by the two major components of an aquaponic system… the fish and plant components. Therefore, in actuality the ratios should be determined not so much by water nor media quantities but by the two major components of an aquaponic system… the fish and plant components. Steps in Determining the Feeding Rate Ratio Simply stated, the feeding rate ratio is how much fish food we need for the number of plant in the system. To get there, answer the following: How Many Plants you would like to produce How Much Area the plants need to grow How Much Fish Feed the fish need to produce enough nutrients for those plants What Amount of weight of fish are required to eat that much fish food. What Volume of Water that amount of fish need to be happy. The fish-feed amount and the plants being grown is the Feeding Rate Ratio. As with any plant you grow, you need to give it nutrients. The nutrients are indirectly supplied by the fish food. The UVI/Rakosy Approach Dr. James Rackocy of the University of the Virgin Islands began some 30 years ago studying Aquaponic Systems. His approach is measured in grams of fish feed/square meter of plant growing area per day. His bottom line using this formula is very general, which helps beginning operators to keep it simple. His bottom line formula is: 60 to 100g/m2/day One of his most important observations was that fish have different requirements than plants as far as nutrition. The main differences are: Fish do not require the same amount of 2 important nutriens which plants do: Potassium- K and Calcium-...

“Ammonia-nitrogen” includes the ionized form (ammonium, NH4+) and the un-ionized form (ammonia, NH3). Ammonium is produced when microorganisms break down organic nitrogen products such as urea and proteins in manure. This decomposition occurs in both aerobic and anaerobic environments. One of the noticeable differences between the two is that Ammonia gives out a strong smell whereas Ammonium does not smell at all. Ammonia (NH3) is an actual gas or liquid you can see. It is not ionic. When ammonia goes ionic, which happens when you add ammonia to water, it draws a hydrogen away from a water molecule to form ammonium (NH4+). The chemical equation that drives the relationship between ammonia and ammonium is: NH3 + H2O ↔ NH4+ + OH- The un-ionized Ammonia with the formula NH3 is a weak base. The iodized Ammonium with the formula NH4+, is an acid. In solution, ammonium is in chemical equilibrium with ammonia. The major factor that determines the proportion of ammonia or ammonium in water is water pH. When the pH is low, the reaction is driven to the right, and when the pH is high, the reaction is driven to the left. This is important as the unionized NH3 is the form that can be toxic to aquatic organisms. The ionized NH4+ is basically harmless to aquatic organisms. Ammonia exerts a direct biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) on the receiving water since dissolved oxygen is consumed as ammonia is oxidized. Moderate depressions of dissolved oxygen are associated with reduced species diversity, while more severe depressions can produce fish...

Equations and Symbols

Get Up-to-Speed on Microorganisms

Soluable Salt Ranges

Keeping up on your soluble salt range is important. Always have an instrument at hand to check your nutrient levels. The below chart is a general guide as to what levels are acceptable or not.

Desireable

Permisable

Dangerous

EC

.75-2 mS

2-3 mS

3 mS & ↑

PPM

500-1300

1300-2000

2000 & ↑

Electrical Conductivity (EC) of a solution is a measure of ionic compounds dissolved in water. Organic Nutrients are ionic compounds. Another name for ionic compounds is salts. Assuming the water had very little EC before you added the liquid fertilizer, measuring the EC will tell us how much fertilizer we have in our liquid. EC is commonly measured in milli-siemens (mS) and/or Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) expressed in Parts Per Million (PPM). Both will give you the same information of how much fertilizer is in your liquid. The EC and PPM are always in relation. So stating the EC and PPM is redundant. The relationship is 1 EC (measured in mS) = 650 PPM.

About BioChar Pyrolysis

Quote from:
Daniel D. Warnock & Johannes Lehmann & Thomas W. Kuyper & Matthias C. Rillig
"Biochar is a term reserved for the plant biomass derived
materials contained within the black carbon
(BC) continuum. This definition includes chars and
charcoal, and excludes fossil fuel products or geogenic
carbon (Lehmann et al. 2006). Materials
forming the BC continuum are produced by partially
combusting (charring) carbonaceous source materials,
e.g. plant tissues (Schmidt and Noack 2000; Preston
and Schmidt 2006; Knicker 2007), and have both
natural as well as anthropogenic sources. Restricting the oxygen supply during combustion can prevent complete combustion (e.g., carbon volatilization and
ash production) of the source materials. When plant
tissues are used as raw materials for biochar production,
heat produced during combustion volatilizes a
significant portion of the hydrogen and oxygen, along
with some of the carbon contained within the plant’s
tissues (Antal and Gronli 2003; Preston and Schmidt
2006).... Depending on the temperatures
reached during combustion and the species identity
of the source material, a biochar’s chemical and
physical properties may vary (Keech et al. 2005;
Gundale and DeLuca 2006). For example, coniferous biochars generated at lower temperatures, e.g. 350°C, can contain larger amounts of available nutrients,
while having a smaller sorptive capacity for cations
than biochars generated at higher temperatures, e.g.
800°C (Gundale and DeLuca 2006). Furthermore,
plant species with many large diameter cells in their
stem tissues can lead to greater quantities of macropores
in biochar particles. Larger numbers of macropores
can for example enhance the ability of biochar
to adsorb larger molecules such as phenolic compounds
(Keech et al. 2005)."
Check out the entire report at:
Mycorrhizal Responses to Biochar in Soil–Concepts and Mechanisms"

Biochar & Fungi Relationship

Cation Exchange Capacity Information Blurb

The total CEC is impacted by these factors:
Amount of active humus such as compost, Amount of passive humus such as Biochar, The pyrolysis method of the Biochar added, Was the Biochar activated and/or inoculated? The type and amount of microorganisms, and The overall pH